Piers Morgan Rejects Megyn Kelly’s Meltdown Over Bad Bunny, Then Asks: Is MAGA Going ‘Woke’ and ‘Thin-Skinned’ Amid Super Bowl Outrage?

Piers Morgan has stirred controversy by asking whether the MAGA movement, known for its staunch anti-"woke" stance, is now displaying its own brand of hypersensitivity. His comments followed a wave of conservative backlash against Bad Bunny's largely apolitical Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show. On his February 10th broadcast, Morgan argued that while the political right effectively capitalized on public fatigue with a "joyless" progressive cultural agenda, the furious response to the Puerto Rican superstar's performance signals a potential shift. "Is MAGA becoming a bit thin-skinned, a bit sneering, a bit censorious, a bit — dare I suggest it — woke?" he queried, suggesting the dynamics of cultural grievance may be evolving.

Morgan's critique took direct aim at influential conservative voices, including former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, who appeared on his program. Kelly contended that the Spanish-language performance was divisive by nature, asserting, "This is supposed to be a unifying event for the country... We don’t need a Spanish-speaking non-English performer." When Morgan noted the United States has no official language—a fact established by custom rather than statute—Kelly dismissed the point before pivoting to critique British immigration policy. This exchange underscores how such criticism often equates cultural expression with national decline, viewing any departure from a specific cultural norm as an inherent threat.

The sentiment reached the highest echelons of the movement, with Donald Trump initially calling the NFL's choice "ridiculous" and later posting on Truth Social during the game to label the show "an affront to the Greatness of America." Inspired by this rhetoric, the conservative activist group Turning Point USA—founded by Charlie Kirk and known for its campus outreach—organized a counter-programmed halftime stream featuring Kid Rock. However, the event's reach was limited, drawing approximately 6 million concurrent viewers on YouTube compared to the 128.2 million who watched the official CBS broadcast. This stark viewership disparity highlights a recurring theme in modern media: online outrage, often amplified by algorithms and partisan media, can create a perception of majority backlash that does not align with broader, more indifferent public sentiment.

The performer at the center of the storm, Bad Bunny (born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio), is a genre-blending global phenomenon from Puerto Rico. His ascent, powered by record-shattering streams and hits that fuse reggaeton with rock and pop, has made him one of the world's best-selling artists. The NFL's selection was a strategic nod to its expanding and diverse fanbase, particularly the growing Latino demographic in the United States. The intense reaction to a show with scant overt political messaging suggests that, for some critics, the mere prominent celebration of Latino culture on a quintessentially American stage is itself seen as a political provocation. As media analyst Dr. Elena Ruiz notes, "This debate transcends the performance's content. It's fundamentally about who controls major cultural platforms. Representation has become a primary battlefield, where visibility is frequently interpreted as an exertion of power and a challenge to the status quo."

Ultimately, this episode raises a pointed question about political movements: do those built in opposition eventually adopt the tactics they once decried? The MAGA-aligned response—calling for a more "traditional" show and framing linguistic diversity as problematic—eerily mirrors accusations of cultural policing historically directed at the progressive left. This illustrates that in today's polarized climate, charges of being "censorious" or "thin-skinned" are not owned by any single ideology. Instead, they have become ubiquitous rhetorical weapons in a continuous cycle of cultural conflict, where the act of taking offense is itself a powerful political tool.